Heavy Metal Icons Discuss the Weird Link Between Metal and Games

See you in front of the gaming TV in Hangar 18.

By John Borba

Love for video games is often something that starts at an early age and, for many of us, is something that only blossomed as we grew older. The intense interactive experiences, whether they be great stories or the thrill of competitive gaming, inspire an insatiable need to recreate or even improve upon those feelings again and again.

The same can be said for the intensity, passion, and unique voice of heavy metal.

Whether it be tone, themes, energy, or even just mutual interest, metal and video games have taken several opportunities to combine forces.

And while the two have proven their merit individually, I’ve found that they work remarkably well as a team. Metal and video games, it’s like peanut butter and chocolate. Pizza and beer. Beavis and Butt-head. Whether intentionally combined or serving as mere influences, they have drastically served the imaginations of the many creators in both mediums.

Since the early years of both, these two have found common space. Whether it be tone, themes, energy, or even just mutual interest, metal and video games have taken several opportunities to combine forces.

I spoke to metal legends Dave Mustaine and Dirk Verbeuren of Megadeth, as well as incredible game designer and big brain behind Brutal Legend, Tim Schafer, Between the Buried and Me’s Blake Richardson, and metal authority Blayne Smith of BangerTV about their personal takes on the symbiotic evolution of both heavy metal and video games. Check out the video above to hear their stories.

John Borba is IGN's resident metalhead, and he has the tattoos to prove it. Talk metal and games with him on Twitter at @borbsauce.